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The Right of the People, Even At the Airport

Monday, January 28, 2013

The Right of the People, Even At the Airport

by

Abby Zimet

Tobey's booking shot at the airport

Arguing that "bizarre does not equal disruptive," a judge has ruled in favor of a Virginia man who sued TSA officials who handcuffed, arrested and interrogated him about his "affiliation with, or knowledge of, any terrorist organizations" after he stripped down at airport security to reveal the core of the Fourth Amendment written on his chest. A dissenting judge argued that Aaron Tobey’s "antics" created "a diversion that nefarious actors could have exploited to dangerous effect." Hogwash, said Judge Roger Gregory, who quoted Ben Franklin in ruling that, "It is crystal clear that the First Amendment protects peaceful nondisruptive speech in an airport, and that such speech cannot be suppressed solely because the government disagrees with it." The case can now proceed to trial.

"Here, Mr. Tobey engaged in a silent, peaceful protest using the text of our Constitution—he was well within the ambit of First Amendment protections. And while it is tempting to hold that First Amendment rights should acquiesce to national security in this instance, our Forefather Benjamin Franklin warned against such a temptation by opining that those ‘who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.’ We take heed of his warning and are therefore unwilling to relinquish our First Amendment protections—even in an airport."

Further

In further proof U.S. cops are out of control - cue LAPD killing a homeless man - comes Cleveland's WTF response to a lawsuit by the family of Tamir Rice, shot dead in a park for playing with a toy gun. His death, says the city, was "directly and proximately caused by (his) failure to exercise due care to avoid injury.” To wit: He's to blame for his own murder because he didn't understand he was in the wrong body. The kind that gets shot - the black kind.